The invention relates to notions in general, and more particularly to improvements in buttons. Still more particularly, the invention relates to improvements in buttons of the type wherein the head has a shank which can be caused to penetrate through a carrier (such as a layer of textile material forming part of a garment, tent or the like) and to be thereupon deformed so as to expand and hold the head against separation from the carrier.
It is known to provide the head of a button with a shank which is deformable, subsequent to penetration through a carrier, as a result of impact against a deforming device. The head of a properly attached button is located at the front side of a textile or other penetrable carrier and can be caused to pass through the buttonhole of a layer of textile or other material which is placed over the carrier of the button so that the carrier and the layer are separably connected to each other. It is also known to provide the head of such button with a universal joint which connects an enlarged portion of the head (namely the portion which is to pass through a buttonhole) with the shank so that the enlarged portion is free to turn relative to the shank about any one of a number of mutually inclined axes. If the button is used in a garment, a first layer of textile material carries the button and another layer of textile material has a buttonhole for the enlarged portion of the head.
Published German patent application No. 27 34 218 discloses a button wherein the retaining portion includes a profiled sleeve and the head of the button has a stem which extends into the sleeve. The head is located at the front side of the carrier and has an enlarged portion outside of the sleeve (such enlarged portion can be caused to pass through buttonhole) and an enlarged section which acts not unlike the ball of a ball and socket joint and is turnably received in the sleeve. The sleeve further carries a rivet which extends through the carrier of the button and into a deforming cup at the rear side of the carrier. A drawback of the button which is described in the published German patent application is that it does not properly seal the hole which is formed where the rivet passes through the carrier. This permits wind and/or rain to penetrate through the hole of the carrier. Reliable seals at locations where the rivets of such buttons extend through a piece of fabric forming part of a garment are particularly desirable in certain types of garments, such as windbreaker jackets, raincoats, slickers, jackets to be worn by skiers and many other types of outdoor garments and garments to be worn by sports persons and being likely to be exposed to elements when in actual use. Many garments of the just outlined characters embody so-called climatic membranes which overlie pieces of textile material and are impermeable to fluids.
It has been found that the ability of garments, tents and like commodities to prevent penetration of wind and/or moisture is often destroyed, even if the garments or tents are provided with climatic membranes, because the shanks of rivets must penetrate through the membranes. Attempts to seal the punctured portions of membranes include the utilization of sealing strips which are bonded (e.g., welded or adhesively secured) to the perforated portions of the membranes, normally at the inner sides of the respective carriers. The application of sealing strips is a time-consuming operation which contributes to the cost of the ultimate product, and the applied sealing strips detract from the appearance of the finished garment, tent or another commodity Wind and/or moisture will often penetrate into the hollow shank of a rivet in the above outlined button, and even the application of sealing strips cannot cure this problem.
Garments which utilize buttons of the above outlined character are worn by sportsmen, outdoorsmen, workmen, inhabitants of countries having a cold climate all year around or most of the year, and many others. Furthermore, such buttons are often used on tents, covers and many other commodities where two or more plies of flexible textile or other material are to be separably connected to each other, where one of the plies carries one or more buttons and where the other ply or plies are provided with buttonholes.
A snap fastener which is intended to solve similar problems is disclosed in commonly owned copending patent application Ser. No. 07/533,424 filed Jun. 5, 1990, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,003,673 granted Apr. 2, 1991.